Tokyo (Nikkei Average NIK, -0.07% ) up 0.2%
Hong Kong (Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.43% ) up 0.4%
Shanghai (Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, -0.20% ) down 0.2% (at break)
Sydney (S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.30% ) up 0.4%
Seoul (Kospi SEU, +0.14% ) up 0.2%
Mumbai (Sensex 1, +0.39% ) up 0.4%
Taipei (Taiex Y9999, +0.33% ) up 0.4%
Asian markets extended their rally this week, while the euro edged up marginally ahead of a much-anticipated European Central Bank policy meeting.
For a second straight session Japanese shares bucked the regional trend as a third day of gains on Wall Street was overshadowed by a pick-up in the yen against the dollar.
Hong Kong added 0.52 per cent, Sydney added 0.59 per cent, Seoul put on 0.34 percent and Shanghai put on 0.50 per cent, but Tokyo eased 0.10 per cent.
Eyes are firmly on the meeting later Thursday of the ECB, with expectations high that it will unveil a programme of asset-purchasing, or quantitative easing (QE) similar to that recently ended in the United States.
SINGAPORE share prices opened flat on Thursday with the Straits Times Index down 2.39 points to 3,352.07.
Volume was 72.0 million shares valued at S$76.5 million.
Gainers outnumbered losers 84 to 59.
